page_title: USS Hayler
section_title: Fate
hierarchical_section_title: USS Hayler / Fate
caption_attribution_description: English: Atlantic Ocean (Nov. 12, 2004) &#8211; The decommissioned destroyer Hayler (DD 997) takes fire from a 57mm Bofors gun aboard the Canadian Halifax-class multi-role patrol frigate HMCS Ville De Quebec (F 332), during a Sink Exercise conducted 300 miles off the East Coast of the United States. Ville De Quebec is currently participating in NATO's Maritime Response Force commonly referred to as Standing Naval Force Atlantic (STANAVFORLANT). STANAVFORLANT is the world's first permanent peacetime multinational naval squadron. Hayler was the last Spruance-class of destroyers built by the Navy, and was decommissioned on Aug. 25, 2003. All decommissioned ships receive a thorough inspection by the EPA before sinking, and will now act as an artificial reef for deep-sea marine life. The sinking of these ships provides unique weapons training opportunities. Photo courtesy Canadian Navy by Master Cpl. John Mason (RELEASED)
context_page_description: USS Hayler, the last Spruance-class destroyer, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for Vice Admiral Robert W. Hayler.
context_section_description: Hayler was decommissioned 25 August 2003 at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Va. She was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 6 April 2004 and sunk as a target on 13 November 2004, during the 2004 Sink Exercise.
caption: Hayler (DD 997) U.S. Navy EOD rigged ship to sink. Fuel storage drums, bow and starboard mid-ship, destroyed for effect before sinking.
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